Benedict is Alive and Kicking

So, the former Pope, Benedict XVI, who retired in 2013, stating that he would devote his remaining life to penance and prayers, has now come out with the product of his first six years: a message to the world about those who are really to blame for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

EUREKA, he has found the culprits. It is all because of the sexual revolution in the 1960s and those “homosexual cliques” among seminarians and priests. They openly watched sex films and more… Seminarians, he hastens to add, avoided reading his books: “My books were hidden away, like bad literature, and only read under the desk.” Had they only read his books instead.

How about all those bishops and cardinals, who actively hushed things up, hiding the information from the law enforcement agencies, terrorising the victims and their families and when they had no alternative, paying hush money, so the information does not come out? Who is responsible for that, hey? Grown-ups having consensual sex against the rules of the Catholic Church, or the Church apparatus that instructed bishops not to report molesting and raping priests to the police and the bishops who followed Vatican rules instead of the law of the land?

J’accuse, Benedict, is not what penance should be about. Go retract your essay, and try mea culpa  instead. By the way, in your spare time, you could read my book about the Church. It is no longer in print, but I am sure that you will find a copy.

Catholic Church Abuse

Two items caught my eye in today’s NY Times:

In New York the Catholic Church is trying to raise a further 100 million Dollars to compensate victims of sexual abuse by priests of the NY diocese. To date, Catholic dioceses in the USA have already paid over 4 billion US Dollars to abuse victims. Many claims have not yet been settled and this amount does not include the billions paid in other countries across the world.

In the Philippines, the Catholic Church has just actively and successfully lobbied against a government plan to introduce condoms and HIV education into schools. Unlike other Asian countries, HIV infection rates are skyrocketing in the Philippines. The Rev. Jerome Secillano, an officer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, praised the decision to back away from the plan as “a wise move.”

Let there be no doubt: this too is abuse.

In case you want to understand why the Church is incapable of making the necessary change, read my book, Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church.

His Eminence and sexual conduct

Should archbishops and cardinals have sexual “conduct” at all?

The most senior Catholic cleric in the UK, Cardinal O’Brien, has just announced to a no longer surprised world, “there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.” Wow. But, what else could a catholic cardinal define what is said to be fondling and kissing seminarians? 

Somewhere I feel sorry for this 75 year-old gay man who chose priesthood as his vocation, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in his country. That was probably his way of trying to control, deny and thereby perhaps kill his sex drive - one that society chose to punish.

O’Brien’s sex drive being what it is was stronger than his will and he is alleged to have abused his position to make advances to some men junior to him. This is undoubtedly wrong. It is wrong to take advantage of your position for sexual gratification. It is also wrong for a man of the church to live a lie. Nobody, by the way, suggested child abuse or pedophilia.

Perhaps, however, our eminent cardinal would not have found himself in this terrible position, had society - led by Catholic and other religious institutions and by lawmakers all over the world - not made homosexuality illegal? Had we not been brought up that gay sex is immoral and disgusting? Had society not pushed homosexuals into deep closets hoping that they might suffocate in them?

Sicily II – Living Church

To take his mind off the continuing saga of his scandalous priests and bishops, the Pope should travel to Sicily. He would be mighty pleased. In Sicily, the Church is still getting it right and Mass, even midweek, still fills the churches. Even the young in their 20s and 30s – those you rarely see in church nowadays – attend mass in Sicily. 

Holidays, such as that of Santa Rita are even more festive:  

The church is overflowing; priests are taking confessions wherever you look.

Reporting a full house to the Papa di tutti Papi?

The Pope and Berlusconi

I find myself in the curious position of empathising with the Catholic Church.

In reference to the latest disclosures about Berlusconi and the young girls he is alleged to have paid to have sex with, Cardinal Bagnasco, the head of the Italian Bishops Conference said, “Whoever accepts a public position must understand the sobriety, personal discipline, sense of measure and honour that come with it.” The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, added that the Roman Catholic Church urged greater “morality” and “legality” in public life.

Should the fact that its own priests and bishops have screwed, raped and abused the vulnerable prevent the Church from preaching to others about their behaviour? True, those Catholic priests rather forgot all about “sobriety, personal discipline, sense of measure and honour” that apparently come with public office. But preaching about morals is the gist of the Church’s business and the Church would have to close shop if prevented from preaching to others. And what then?

I wonder what Latin for Chutzpah is?

Exorcism

Has it ever occurred to you that during all those years in which the Catholic Church persecuted and burned those she called “witches”, all she did was to set the competition’s stalls ablaze.

Think of Aldi firebombing all Lidl stores or Tesco setting all Sainsbury stores to fire. Exorcism is the brand name of the Catholic Church's own witchcraft product. Nobody else was permitted to compete.

Business, apparently, is booming and this weekend, in Baltimore, the Catholic Church has held a workshop for bishops and priests in the USA to train them as exorcists. To help us recognise those in need of exorcism, Bishop Paprocki, the organiser of the workshop, has described some of the classic signs of possession by a demon, “speaking in a language the person has never learned; extraordinary shows of strength; a sudden aversion to spiritual things like holy water or the name of God; and severe sleeplessness, lack of appetite and cutting, scratching and biting the skin.”

Writing books (or reading them) that call for the dismantling of the Church is evidently no proof of possession by the devil. You can safely order a copy of Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church for your best friends.

Make War, Not Love – Catholic Church Style

Fondling choirboys was not Father Chesney’s poison, he evidently needed stronger stuff.

It has been reported that this Roman Catholic priest was no less than “ the IRA's director of operations in South Derry and was alleged to have been directly involved in the bombings and other terrorist incidents”. It happened in 1972 and Chesney is conveniently dead.

Note the collusion of Church and State in this outrage. Father Chesney was quickly moved to a new parish, conveniently near his old hometown, but across the border, in the Republic of Ireland, safely outside the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland.

The British Government may have been right in defusing this matter at a time of great tension between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. However, the Church that did not punish Chsesney and allowed him to continue as a parish priest elsewhere has proven yet again that it should not be trusted.

Die (katholische) Kirche, die Juden und der Tod

I will talk about the Catholic Church and the Jews at a day of Jewish learning Limmud in Frankfurt, on Sunday, 29 August, at 10:30.

The lecture will be held in German and you can register through Limmud's website if you are interested.

The Pope’s Latest Non Apology

Earlier today, the Pope has come out with yet another expression of regret on the subject of sexual abuse.

Has he finally managed to get it right?

Again, the Pope spoke of “… sins of priests came to light — particularly the abuse of the little ones,” adding that “in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation…”

The Pope has still not accepted that he is answerable for the COVER UP by the Church, popes, cardinals and bishops. He continues to go on about the wrong kind of priests who found their way into the Church.

Will he ever? I do not think so.

Don't Fire the Pope

The following is from an interview I gave several days ago to an American radio station:

The recent media hype surrounding the Catholic Church includes calls for Pope Benedict to resign. Should he? There are currently two known cases that connect Benedict personally to abuse. As Archbishop of Munich and Freising, he did not prevent the reassignment of a paedophile priest and as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he acquiesced to the request of an abusive priest and thwarted his defrocking.

Up to now, nothing has come to light that would suggest that Benedict had ever abused anyone or that he knowingly allowed abuse to take place. Indeed, no malice can be ascribed to either Benedict or to most other senior Church figures.

Instead of evil, what we have is total blindness: Blindness to what is important and what is not. In other words, their values were corrupted. Sadly, the brutal end result is the same as if they had been evil.

There is no doubt that Benedict is guilty. He is guilty of being not only part of the machine but also an important, significant and formative part the Catholic Church machine: A machine that had systematically allowed abuse to take place under its auspices. A machine that has a history of acting evilly in other spheres of life too. But Benedict is not guilty of abuse; it is the Catholic Church that is guilty. Therefore it is not a personal resignation that we need but rather a total change in the way this institution operates.

We should ask ourselves what had enabled such corrupt values to thrive in an institution that is all about love and hope, an institution that considers itself to be a lighthouse to humanity. The Pope’s resignation would cause an earthquake within the Catholic Church. Such an earthquake could be helpful. Yet, it might not necessarily produce the change we need. Let there be no doubt, society would have closed this institution had it been secular. Those who run the Catholic Church should be aware of the risk in not making the necessary changes.

The Pope’s Latest Troubles

Many of my friends in Germany are getting worked as the press publishes daily reports about cover up of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church. The great excitement is whether any dirt would stick to the Pope personally. They have already reached his brother, a regular priest, who has admitted to slapping choirboys. (Not that way) The brother denies having indulged in any spaß with the Spatzen of the renowned Regensburg choir.

Those who have read Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church should not have been surprised. In the conclusion to the chapter on sexual abuse, I wrote:

The unfolding of the sexual abuse culture of the Catholic Church has exposed her as dangerous institution which runs sophisticated cover-up operations to defend the criminal activities of her priests. This secret and authoritarian institution and its hierarchy have, by their conscious policy of hushing up and covering up, become accessories to sexual crimes perpetrated by their clergy.

SO, if you have not yet got the book, GO and BUY it. The easiest way is to order the book through Amazon.

If you already have the book, buy another copy and give it to a friend: The ideal present for Good Friday.

Holy Alliances

Two stories that have recently appeared in the press:

Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, has intervened with Israeli President Peres to grant amnesty to an Israeli in jail. Curiously, the Israeli in question is not a member of his own Church but a Jew: ultra-orthodox Shlomo Benizri, a former Israeli cabinet member, is serving a four-year jail sentence for taking bribes and for breach of trust.

Is Theophilus just a particularly nice man or is this somehow connected to the fact that the Greek Orthodox Church owns very much land in Israel (including the land on which the Knesset, Israel’s parliament is built) and that Shas, Benizri’s party, is a very potent power broker in the country?

The Catholic Church has condemned the French government for attempting to prohibit the wearing of Burqas in public. The Church explained that retaliation on Christians in Muslim countries might follow.

File note for future reference: in dealings with the Vatican - blackmail works.

The US Catholic Church blackmails Obama

Catholic Bishop Thomas J Tobin of Rhode Island has barred US Congressman Patrick J Kennedy from communion. Indeed, the Bishop went even further: he accused Kennedy of “false advertising” for describing himself as a Catholic. Tobin added, “If you freely choose to be a Catholic, it means you believe certain things, you do certain things. …If you cannot do all that in conscience, then you should perhaps feel free to go somewhere else.” Is this Tobin’s private initiative or does he have the Pope’s approval to send people away from the Catholic Church?

I take it, that in Bishop Tobin’s book, his colleagues who have systematically lied, cheated and covered up sexual abuse by their priests are not false Catholics and do not have to go seek another Church.

Kennedy’s sin is his political stance against the legal prohibition of abortion. The issue has resurfaced in recent days, as the machinery of the US Catholic Church has lobbied with all its might to exclude abortion from the new health care bill. To that end, the Catholic Bishops were willing to let the very poor Americans, who do not have medical cover, continue to suffer.

Just in case you did not know on whose side the Catholic Church is.

German Jews tell Catholics what to pray for

The Central Committee of German Catholics, through their joint working group of Catholics and Jews, has recently produced a pamphlet calling for the Christian mission to convert Jews to Christianity to be abolished.

This German effort comes in the wake of last year’s decision of Pope Benedict XVI to bring back the Easter prayer’s old text. Many Jews were angered by the Church’s return to “Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all men.” Some called for a freeze on Jewish-Catholic dialogue.

But, let us face it: according to their faith, for the whole of mankind to acknowledge that Christ is the Saviour is exactly what Christians should hope for.

Why do German Rabbis and German Jewish academics, members of this working group, co-produce pamphlets on issues of Catholic theology? If Catholics believe that their role in life is to proselytise, let them proselytise. If Catholics decide to change their view - that should be their decision. It is their religion and their business.

Fortunately, the Catholic Church no longer has the power to force anyone to convert. It is no longer necessary for Jews to appeal to the Popes to revoke anti-Jewish legislation or actions.

The Polish Priest and the Sex Manual

This Dominican friar, Father Knotz, Link was not caught reading a sex manual; he wrote one. Knotz is proud, the Church is happy and the publisher is making money.

In Sex As You Don’t Know It: For Married Couples Who Love God, the friar recommends “saucy, surprising and fantasy packed” sessions.

God, we are told, derives pleasure from married couples doing it: “Every act - a type of caress, a sexual position - with the goal of arousal is permitted and pleases God.”   

So much for my assertion that Catholic doctrine on sexual matters abuses the faithful.

Member of the Israeli Knesset tells Pope: You are Not Welcome.

A friend has sent me an article that appeared in the Israeli press, in which Nitzan Horovitz, a member of Israel’s parliament tells the Pope that he is not welcome in Israel.

 

Curiously, Horovitz is not a member of the right wing majority running the Jewish state but a member of parliament representing Meretz, a very small left of centre party. As such, I expected him to concentrate his efforts on sorting out Jewish religious coercion in Israel before telling the, at least formally, spiritual representative of a sixth of the world’s population that he is not welcome in Israel.

 

Horovitz, unnecessarily, hauls Ratzinger’s membership as a 14 year-old boy of the Hitler youth. He also makes much of the holocaust denying Bishop Williamson saga. The Williamson affair is an annoying mishap but it is a mishap. I do not believe that the Pope was aware of the holocaust denial of Williamson when he readmitted him to the Church. Popes run big operations and whoever had arranged for this schismatic group to return to the fold of the Church would not have bothered to report to the Pope that there was a problem with Williamson.

 

I fully agree with Horovitz that it is wrong to oppose the use of condoms and that especially in Africa this is a significant obstacle in the fight against AIDS. I also agree that gays should not be discriminated against in any area, including matrimony. I do not quite understand what business it is of this Jewish member of the Israeli parliament whether Catholic priests may or may not get married. They are not likely to be his constituents, are they?

 

My credentials are clear: In Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church, I called for the Catholic Church to be dismantled. But, Horovitz’s personal attack on the Pope is misguided. The problem is not the persona of this man but the institution that is unable to change.